Vietnam environment official sacked over mass fish kill

HANOI: A senior Vietnamese environment official has been fired for negligence over a toxic waste dump that killed tons of fish in a major environmental crisis last year, according to officials and state media. Luong Duy Hanh, director of Vietnam’s Environment Protection Management Department, is the latest official to be punished over the toxic leak, which was blamed on a multi-billion dollar steel plant run by the Taiwanese firm Formosa. Formosa was fined $500 million for the waste dump and Vietnam has vowed to punish 11 officials over the country’s worst-ever environmental disaster. State media reported Wednesday that Hanh was sacked because he failed to properly oversee the Formosa project.He was blamed for not “consulting and supervising the implementation of the environmental protection unit during the construction and pilot operation” of the plant, according to state-controlled Thanh Nien newspaper.